Approved at the 21st meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee in June 2010 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2010)3]

Extended at the 9th Meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle in February 2012 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2012)2]

Extended at the 12th Meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle in February 2014 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2014)2/REV1]

Extended at the 27th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee in June 2016 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2016)2]

Modified at the 15th Meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle in February 2017 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2017)2]

Mandate of the Expert Group on Innovative Structural Materials [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2018)1]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2018)1

Objectives and scope

Under the guidance of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) and under the mandate of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC), the objective of the Expert Group on Innovative Structural Materials (EGISM) is to conduct joint and comparative studies to support the development, selection and characterisation of innovative structural materials that can be implemented in advanced nuclear fuel cycles, under extreme conditions such as high temperature, high dose rates and corrosive chemical environments and long service lifetimes.

The objectives of the expert group are:

Provide a state-of-the-art assessment of specific areas to be considered as priority areas of research.

Identify the areas where experimental protocols and standards are needed and where the sharing of available experimental installations could be possible.

Assess current status and future needs for qualification of reference structural materials.

Identify existing databases.

Organise the next series of workshops on structural materials for innovative nuclear systems (SMINS).

Consistent with the above objectives, the scope of the expert group includes:

State-of-the-art assessment of specific areas to be considered as priority areas of research

Identification of system requirements for advanced reactors, identification of advanced materials being studied to meet the system requirements, and identification of readiness level of each of the materials.

Experimental protocols and standards and share of available experimental installations:

Identification and elaboration of areas where experimental protocols and standards are needed.

Identification of challenge issues, both in modelling and experimentation, as well as round robin experiments to verify consistency of results across international test programmes.

Identification of existing and required experimental facilities, as well as the potential for collaborative research using existing experimental installations.

Common experimental database :

Identification of existing databases and their ownership and accessibility.

Links

The expert group will liaise closely with other NEA working groups, especially the expert group on Liquid Metal Technology (EGLM), the Expert Group on Fuel Recycling Chemistry (EGFRC), and those operating under the guidance of the Working Party of Multi-Scale Modelling for Fuels and Structural Materials for Nuclear Systems (WPMM) in order to ensure the respective programmes of work are complementary, to provide advice and support where required and to undertake joint activities where appropriate.

The expert group will also work closely with other international organisations (IAEA and EU).

Deliverables

Report on Grand Challenges for Adoption of Innovative Materials in Modern Reactor Applications. I)Ion Irradiation.